The two different brands of Chinese stones I've used are ruixin and adaee. I couldn't really tell a difference in quality or anything except the markings so I'm assuming they're made by the same manufacturer. The congress stones I've used are the ruby, moldmaster, and super soft series. They all have pros and cons and would hesitate to call any of them better, it just depends on what youre looking to achieve.
As far as the sharpening system itself, it's up to you what you want to buy. I will not really advocate for a generic made in China version of anything when it comes to competing with American made products. Like the stones, it depends on what you want, what you can afford, and what you're comfortable with.
Have I used the generic chinese version? Yeah. Did I get great results? Yeah. Did it hold up well over a long time? Yeah. Should it be abused? No. Am I trying to give a fair opinion? Yeah. Having said all of that, if you have the money, go for the original. If you don't have the money then the generic version will do the job very well too. I'd say the same thing for generic fruit loops vs original fruit loops, generic Tylenol vs original Tylenol, generic kleenex vs original kleenex, or any kind of FDA approved generic medicine over the original medicine whose patent has expired. When you're looking at a $500 prescription vs a $50 generic prescription, most people will go for the $50 prescription even if it's a clone of the original whose patent expired. For most people the generic will work as well as the original. Wouldnt it be nice if we all had enough money to support the makers of the original brand when they're the ones who fronted the r and d costs? Absolutely, but this is the real world and sometimes people just don't have the money to do whatever they want, so they get the best thing they can afford given limited finances and there's no shame in that as long as no laws are broken. Morality isn't always black and white, usually there are just shades of gray and this one is not on the dark side of the color spectrum.
By the way, I wish people would stop calling these counterfeits or clones. They're not. They're just generic versions. There's no patent or trademark or other intellectual property theft going on. It's simply a cheaper version made in China. Had this been, what, 5 or 6 years ago when the patent was still active or if someone was trying to pass the thing off as something it's not, then there'd be a good argument against them. That's not what it is though, so it's really an argument no different than Tylenol vs equate.
